[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 24, 2003

        Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
       Commemorating the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase.

Whereas in 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France 
        for a total of $15,000,000;
Whereas President Thomas Jefferson designated Robert Livingston and James Monroe 
        to negotiate the treaty with Napoleon Bonaparte;
Whereas the Louisiana Purchase included 827,987 square miles, nearly 600,000,000 
        acres, the largest single land purchase in our Nation's history;
Whereas the Louisiana Purchase territory stretched from Canada to the Gulf of 
        Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, nearly 
        doubling the size of the United States at that time;
Whereas this purchase enabled dramatic further westward expansion and helped 
        fuel the Nation's rise as a world power;
Whereas 15 States or parts of States were carved out of the Louisiana Purchase 
        territory, including Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, 
        Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, 
        Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming;
Whereas the land was acquired by peaceful means, in stark contrast to the usual 
        methods of old-style empires, which often conquered new territories by 
        force;
Whereas the acquisition secured the United States' trading abilities by 
        guaranteeing its navigation rights on the Mississippi River and its 
        ability to send goods through the Port of New Orleans for shipment to 
        the Atlantic Coast and Europe; and
Whereas generations of Americans have benefited from President Jefferson's noble 
        vision of America and his efforts at expanding our new Nation onto the 
        continent: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana 
Purchase, recognizes the extraordinary work of the individuals involved 
in the transaction, and is grateful for the tremendous part the event 
played in fulfilling our Nation's Manifest Destiny.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.